Grime On a Sink
by Freakbynature
Summary: The narrator relives his experience refusing to grasp the fact that he is, indeed, insane.


OK here's my continuation on "The Tell-Tale Heart." Written by Edgar Allan Poe. Actually, I got this idea after we read the story. Who knew you could actually enjoy anything in class? Hope you enjoy… 

I have been imprisoned. Imprisoned, in a cell. A dark, damp, filthy, foul little cell in an insane asylum. An insane asylum! I nearly scoffed at the policeman when he arrested me. S

urprisingly, this was right after the murder. Yes, I murdered the old man. My employer, or should I say, former employer. Respectable man he was, but that eye. Oh, that dreadful eye of his. I

could barely look the man in the face! It bulged and twitched; the iris drifted wherever the wind blew, and was pigmented a very light shade of blue. I believe it was his right eye. I swear it

trailed after me, judging my every move.

So I carefully plotted and carried out the act of murdering him. That fateful night, oh I remember it like yesterday. I crept in, and after an hour of careful watch, lit a lantern. After that I

began to approach him, growing in excitement. Then he leapt up, but I threw him to the ground, and with my astounding strength, lifted his very bed and threw it on top of him. I was so

happy I could burst of joy! The man struggled, but did eventually pass. That was when I cut off his head, and dismembered the rest of his body. Then, quite cleverly, I hid the parts in the

floorboards. Surely no one was to find them. But then the next day the policemen came, having heard noise complaints from the neighbors, I assume. I simply told them the man was on a trip

and had left, and began chatting with them amiably. But instead of leaving, they stayed and continued chatting. I began to get irritated. All of a sudden, I could hear my former employer's

heartbeat! It was coming from the floorboards. I thought surely the policemen had heard it, but they kept on making polite conversation. It grew louder and louder. The heartbeat began

banging in my head and bouncing off the walls. The beating began to pulsate in my eardrums. I began to shriek in terror. The man's despicable eye was after me! I yelled and screamed; it had

all been of no use. Then I broke down and admitted my crime. I just wanted to be left alone! The pounding of that heartbeat, oh how I still cringe at the thought of it. And yet the policemen

sat there like everything was exemplary and nothing out of the ordinary was to be seen. So, in a furious rage, I took the recently used axe, and I shook it furiously in their faces.

"DO YOU WANT TO SEE IT! DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE BODY!" The men looked at me like something was just starting to sink and settle in their stomachs, but it may just have been

their imaginations. Still livid, I took the axe and walked to the floorboards where the body parts were. I began slamming the axe against the boards, with no particular aim. My arms were

flying and wood splinters were being flung about everywhere. After a good deal of time, there was a large hole in the floor boards. It was all visible. I must say it was a gory sight: The man's

head with the newly patched eye, and the other dismembered parts, slightly entangled and thrown into a heap of flesh, sweat, and blood. "SEE!" I shrieked shrilly, with a dazed smile on my

face; my elated expression growing by the second. They looked completely horrified. One of the men steadily approached me, eventually handcuffing me with a distressed look upon his

face. He shook his head with despair. "You know what we gotta do Ernie. We have to put him away." Ernie nodded, while I stood there bewildered. Weren't they astonished at how

ingenious I had been at hiding the body?

We drove for a long time, moving away further and further from the city. Then I saw a sign that said Red Fern Mental Institution. I couldn't believe it! I was not a madman! I began to shake

violently, rocking back and forth. Ernie pushed me abruptly out of the car because of my defiance to get myself out, and I my body slammed against the hard, cold dirt road. He escorted me

to the main building, where I was immediately swept into a cell hall filled with sick, deranged people. There were people talking to themselves, people vomiting all over the place, and some

even with burns and bruises and several other injuries, that I wondered if were self induced. I was thrown into a cell, where I was stripped of my clothing and given the standard uniform. An

advisor told me I was now "in custody," and would remain here until they saw fit to set me back into the outside world. So here I am, staring at the grime on the sink of the cell. Oh how I

would love to scrape off the mold. Ah, I have been thrust into another dilemma. Do I pick at the mold and get the filth and grime on me, unable to wash my hands clean? Yes, yes I will. Oh…

my…the room spinning…Why is the room spinning? Maybe I should… no I don't want to sleep. But maybe I should "That was real strange Ernie." "Sure was. That nut actually thought

there was a body in there. I can't believe all that was hidden in the floorboards. Do you think he stole the money? His employer's fortune, I mean." "Of course. Who else would have known

about the money?" "I dunno. He was so focused on the fact he supposedly killed the guy. He didn't even notice all that gold and silver. This wasn't an act. The guy's known in this town for

being a bit…off." "Hmmm…maybe so. Where is the employer now?" "I heard the detectives just checked out his body in the morgue about a week ago. He was hospitalized a few days

before then, died of a heart attack, I think. Poor guy didn't even have a right eye. Just a socket."

….xoxo Caitlin the freako


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